Who is Kimi Antonelli? Driver to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes

Mercedes have announced that 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli will replace Lewis Hamilton from the start of next season.

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Antonelli, whose first name is actually Andrea, was given the middle name of Kimi by his former racing driver father, who named him after Kimi Raikkonen.

The 18-year-old currently races for Prema Racing in Formula 2 where he has one sprint race win (Silverstone) and one feature race win (Hungaroring), leaving him seventh in this season's Drivers' Championship.

Antonelli is set to be the third youngest driver in F1 history, behind only Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen when he makes his debut next year.

Long acknowledged as one of the most exciting talents in racing, Antonelli racked up a number of karting titles, going on to win the Italian and German Formula 4 championships in 2022, adding the Middle East and European Formula Regional titles in 2023.

Despite his tender age, Antonelli jumped from Formula 4 straight to Formula 2, with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff speaking highly of the youngster. Wolff said in January this year: "If we give him his time, I think he can be a really great one in this sport."

Antonelli was announced as having joined the Mercedes Junior Team back in 2019, testing the W12 with the team in April this year, then piloting the W13 at Imola.

Antonelli has long been touted as Mercedes' next driver, having taken part in the first free practice session at the Italian Grand Prix, replacing George Russell for the session, and the Italian is set to join Russell as a permanent member of the team for the 2025 season.

Despite crashing out after just 10 minutes of FP1, Wolff gave his backing to Antonelli, suggesting the pressure perhaps got to his new driver, saying: "Clearly here, with everything piling up on him in Monza, that is very difficult to cope with. Is that the reason why he put it in the wall? Maybe.

"I think the circumstances are guilty…you are under the magnifying glass because it all happens in Monza, it has been a while since an Italian driver was in a top team, this can be a lot for an 18-year-old."

Liam Williams

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